A penny for your reelection campaign?

The New York Times has a slightly strange story about Ohio GOP activist and fundraiser Thomas Noe, Noe, a rare coin dealer, is now being investigated for the disappearance of as much as $13 million in funds from the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Bureau invested in a rare-coin fund that he controlled. True to form, the Democrats are spinning this as a morality tale about the dangers of one-party rule when it has about as much to do with single-party domination as it does with Revenge of the Sith’s box-office numbers.

Here’s a sample from the Times article:

Democrats have tried to turn the missing coins into a morality tale about the dangers of one-party government. Indeed, in Ohio it is hard to find anyone responsible for government problems who is not a Republican, since Republicans control not only the governor's office, but also the Legislature, the attorney general's office, the Supreme Court and the state auditor's office.

"One-party rule has made the Republicans much more sloppy in their corruption," said State Senator Marc Dann, a Democrat.

Of course it’s true that Republicans control the majority of the dominant political institutions, but what that has to do with the possible inappropriate actions of a single person is entirely unclear. Yes, Noe raised funds for the GOP, contributing to the campaigns of judges, governors and Senators, but the article gives no indication of how this might be linked to any possible illegal activities. Governor Bob Taft claimed to be “outraged, saddened and sickened,” saying that if Noe is guilty, “he should receive the most severe punishment possible.” Members of the Ohio Supreme Court helped by Noe’s funds have removed themselves from the case. Far from helping Noe, the Republican party is actively pushing him away.

Twisting this into some sort of referendum on one-party rule is a quixotic choice, as any illegal actions that Noe took seem to be apart from his party affiliations and likely would have happened regardless of the previous election outcomes. Ohio Democrats, it seems, are desperate for any opportunity to grab the microphone and, like a drunken first man at a wedding reception, make themselves the center of attention, even if it means babbling into incoherence.